Nokia Lumia 930 vs. Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. HTC One M8

Samsung and HTC have unveiled their most impressive smartphones yet with the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 respectively, and Nokia is looking to catch up quick. The Finnish phone maker's all-new Lumia 930 marks the start of a new generation of Lumia devices, touting a sleek rectangular design and 20-MP camera, and running Windows Phone 8.1. The 930 looks to innovate mobile camera features in the same way its predecessors have, but how does it hold up compared to this year's biggest Android heavyweights?

Nokia Lumia 930

HTC One M8

Samsung Galaxy S5

Display

5-inch 1920 x 1080

5-inch Super LCD 1920 x 1080

5.1 FHD Super AMOLED 1920 x 1080

Processor

2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800

2.3-GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801

2.5-GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801

RAM

2GB

2GB

2GB

Storage

32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/32GB (expandable to 64GB)

Video

1080p

1080p

1080p

Connectivity

802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC

802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC

Operating System

Windows Phone 8.1

Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense

Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Samsung TouchWiz

Camera

20-MP rear camera, 1.2-MP front

Ultrapixel rear Duo Camera, 5-MP front

16-MP rear, 2.1-MP front

Size

5.4 x 2.8 x 0.39 inches

5.8 x 2.8 x 0.37 inches

5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 inches

Weight

5.92 ounces

5.6 ounces

5.11 ounces

Battery

2420 mAh

2600 mAh

2800mAh

Fingerprint scanner

No

No

Yes

Design

The Nokia Lumia 930 retains the colorful aesthetic of the 920, though the handset looks a bit more luxurious this time around. Rather than a colored plastic unibody, the latest Lumia sports silver edges with polycarbonate back panels, which come available in orange, green, black and white.

The Galaxy S5 is one of Samsung's sportiest-looking handsets yet, with a soft-touch, water-resistant design that comes in black, white, gold and electric blue. The HTC One M8 has the most premium look of the three, boasting a sleek all-metal unibody that you can get in gray, gold and silver.

Specs

The Lumia 930 will sport a 5-inch full HD display like the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 (5.1 inches), and all three sport a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The 930 is powered by a 2.2-GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU with 2GB of RAM, which slightly trails the S5 (2.3-GHz Snapdragon 801, 2GB RAM) and One M8 (2.5-GHz Snapdragon 801, 2GB RAM). The 930 comes with 32GB of internal storage with 7GB of free OneDrive space, while Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 owners have a choice between 16GB and 32GB models.

The Lumia's 2,420 mAh battery has less power than those in the HTC One (2,600 mAh) and Galaxy S5 (2,800 mAh). We'll have to test the 930's battery life ourselves to see how it stacks up with the S5 and M8, the latter of which gave us close to 10 hours of juice.

Camera

The Lumia line is famous for its photography feature set, and the Lumia 930 and its 20-MP camera are looking to retain that reputation. The phone will feature "Living Images," which use multiple photos to animate select parts of a single shot, like a person's hair or facial expression. Thanks to the device's four internal microphones, you can capture surround sound for your videos.

Samsung isn't very far behind with its 16-MP camera, which is backed by neat features like Shot & More for post-shot effects and Virtual Tour for showing a remote friend around the house. The One M8's Ultrapixel Duo Camera doesn't provide quite as sharp a resolution, but the handset provides tons of entertaining ways to mess with your photos, like the Dimension Plus tool for adding a touch of 3D to your shots.

The One M8's 5-MP front camera makes it the best selfie taker, while the Galaxy S5 and Lumia 930 trail at 2.1-MP and 1.2-MP, respectively.

Software

The Nokia Lumia 930 will take full advantage of the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 OS, which touts improved lock screen functionality and the ability to add more app tiles than ever to your Start screen. There's also the Cortana voice assistant, which is Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now.

The Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 both run Android 4.4 KitKat, though each phone has its own skin. HTC's Sense UI packages all of your news and social update into one sleek and cohesive custom home screen, while Samsung's TouchWiz interface makes the default Android layout look a bit more refined. HTC's UI stands out more aesthetically, but S5 users get to enjoy exclusive features such as S Health Fitness and private mode, the latter of which locks away important files via the handset's fingerprint reader.

Outlook

When the Lumia 930 makes its way stateside, it will make a solid Windows Phone alternative to the two current kings of Android. All three devices boast some of the coolest camera functions we've seen on a phone, but the 930 stands out thanks to Living Images and the ability to record videos with surround sound. With a full HD screen that's similar in size to the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5, the 930's specs only trail slightly in terms of CPU and battery power.

The 930 rests somewhere between the ultra-sleek One M8 and the sporty Galaxy S5 in terms of design, and we like the bright suite of colors that Nokia is offering the handset in. We can't fairly judge the 930 until we get our hands on one, but even if it doesn't sway people from Android, it could prove to be a real treat for Windows Phone and Lumia fans.

A devout gamer and tech enthusiast, Mike Andronico joined the Laptop team in July 2013. With a B.A. in Journalism from Purchase College and experience at GameNGuide, Examiner and 2D-X, Mike tackles everything from iPhone rumors to in-depth hardware reviews.